Tragic Workings In Euripides Drama

Beskrivelse

Tragic Workings in Euripides’ Drama presents a fresh theory and approach to understanding Attic tragedy. It explores how ancient Greek audiences experienced tragedy as a communal event, focusing on the emotional and social impact of Euripides’ plays.

A new anthropological perspective on the communal and emotional dynamics of Attic tragedy.

This book introduces an innovative method for interpreting Attic tragedy, grounded in anthropological insights and Aristotle’s ideas about the distinct ‘tragic’ reactions of shock and horror. Synnøve des Bouvrie argues that during the Dionysia, the Athenian dramatic festival, the audience came together as a collective, participating in a ritualized set of emotions she terms a ‘tragic process.’

This process was designed to engage spectators in reaffirming the core social values that upheld both the household (oikos) and the city-state (polis). By focusing on these ‘tragic workings,’ Des Bouvrie offers a groundbreaking and explicitly anthropological lens on Euripides’ work.

The book provides insightful analyses of several of Euripides’ plays, including Heracleidae, Andromache, Hecuba, Heracles, The Trojan Women, Iphigenia in Tauris, and Iphigenia at Aulis. While Euripides is the main focus, the author’s previous research suggests that these tragic elements were common across the genre.

Ideal for students and scholars of ancient Greek tragedy, this volume offers a significant contribution to the field and promises to inspire further study and lively discussion about the tragic genre.

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